As you may know, Kelly and I love to eat out and we are determined to check out as many different places in LA as we can while we are still here. Our latest favorite is Pizzeria Mozza. It is the sister restaurant to Osteria Mozza (which we went to for our anniversary and enjoyed but not as much as the pizzeria side) and is partially owned by Mario Batali of Food Network/Iron Chef fame. Last night we went and decided to skip the pizza and, instead, split a few appetizers. Here's what we got:
Nancy's chopped salad (iceberg lettuce with salami, cheese, garbanzo, etc) crispy goat cheese and umbrian lentils bruschetta of chicken livers, capers, parsley and guanciale bufala mozzarella and prosciutto di parma bone marrow al forno one glass of white wine chosen by our server (to split as well)
It was quite decadent, but awesome. Although the photo is somewhat dark you should be able to make out the plate of bones on the right. Bone marrow is quite good but also quite rich. It came with roasted garlic, charred, buttered toast and sea salt. My personal favorite was the mozzarella and prosciutto plate with a side of olive oil. There was some left over chicken liver bruschetta and bone marrow that we took home for Snoops. Boy, was he a happy dog! We have yet to try dessert there, but I am looking forward to it next time we go!
Labor Day weekend turned out to be more eventful than I expected. Aside from walking Snoops for an hour or more each day, I hung out with friends and got to spend more time with Kelly than usual. The highlights:
Friday I went to visit with Beth and her friends from Filthy Rogue theatre company. They were making a curtain for their upcoming fundraiser "Filthy's Follies". It's a variety show with a framework that is a parody of Spanky's Follies from our gang. Snoops and I just hung out and watched them cut and sew and glue. To represent a clothesline, they made cut-outs in the shape of mini clothes. The little faux shorts and dresses reminded me of something that happened when Kimmy came to visit in July. Francesca Lia Block, an author of young adult fantasy fiction, was having a workshop and Kimmy had been planning to go. Aside from bringing a few specified writing samples to discuss, the author requested that workshop participants bring something to leave on the fairy alter. That's right, the fairy alter. I had never heard of such a thing but luckily in Silverlake we have a store called The Magic Cauldron. Kiimmy and I made our way to the Cauldron to get schooled on fairy alters and hopefully purchase something inexpensive yet still impressively appropriate. As one might guess there were many fun things to choose from. The woman behind the counter seemed uninterested when we first walked in but once I asked about getting something for a "fairy alter" she lit up. She showed us candles, incense, strange herbs, charms, and figurines of dragons, fairies, and magicians. There were also bags of mini cut-out clothing shapes, tiny doors and wheelbarrows and other implements someone deemed useful to a fairy. After much deliberation Kimmy decided to go with a candle and a mini-ladder. The nice lady suggested that we paint the ladder and decorate it with feathers and beads. We didn't manage to decorate it but we were still quite pleased with our purchase. Kimmy took her treasures to the workshop and placed them on the alter. They all said a fairy prayer and that was it for the alter. It was a bit disappointing that Francesca Lia Block did not point out any particularly special gifts but, oh well, it made for a fun reason to go to the Magic Cauldron. If you need any money mist, chocolate bat simmer oil, or a copy of New Witch Magazine you should check it out (www.cauldronkitty.com).
And now back to the Little Rascals:
Saturday I met my friends Stacey and Bill at Kokekkoko, a yakitori house in Little Tokyo. Regardless of the fact that the service is crummy (it took twenty minutes before I managed to get my waiters attention to get a glass of water) this particular place is always packed. The menu is limited to skewers of all things chicken, including chicken breast, hearts, liver, skin, and vegetable wrapped chicken among other things. Not a good place to take your vegetarian friends. We sat at the end of the three-sided bar surrounding the grill where a chef and his helpers constantly rotated various skewers of meat/parts and then dropped them off on your plate. You can order by the skewer as Stacey and I did - I got one chicken breast (had to scrape off the wasabi), one chicken hearts, one chicken wrapped okra, and one quail eggs - or you can order the whole shebang, one of each thing on the menu, which is what Bill did. We had a good time chatting away and occasionally eating a few bites of chicken on a stick. The whole experience took about two hours. Probably a bit longer than necessary because the hard wooden stools made for a good ache in the backside after awhile. By the end, I was standing leaning against the wall, avoiding sitting back down until the check arrived.
As we were leaving, I noticed Kelly had called which was unexpected since he usually is busy at work on Saturday night around that time. It turned out he wasn't feeling well and went home to rest awhile before possibly having to go back to work if it got busy. Bill, Stacey, and I went to Pinkberry as planned and I got a medium original flavor frozen yogurt with double mochi and strawberries to go for Kelly. Then I went home and Kelly and I hung out for the rest of the night. He slept awhile and I walked Snoops. We watched some tv - Discovery Channel documentary about being overly tall - and Wonder Showzen on dvd and went to Astro Diner for breakfast type food around midnightish.
Sunday Snoops and I did the laundry and walked around the neighborhood. We got home in time to wake Kelly up and visit for a minute before I went to Irish dance class. Class was fun and challenging as usual. I am feeling more confident about dancing in my hard-shoes. It's so different than any dance I have done before but I am glad to be expanding my repertoire. When I got home, Kelly and Wes were improvising and recording some music. Kelly is really starting to figure out his musical style and make some great songs. Once they finished up, we went to the Cheesecake Factory (I did not get cheesecake even though I wanted to) and saw Traitor with Don Cheadle and Guy Pearce. I wasn't sure if I felt like seeing an international espionage thriller but I was pleasantly surprised. It was suspenseful and entertaining and insightful. It is definitely one I recommend. (www.traitor-themovie.com)
Monday Kelly and I went to the gym together. Because it was Labor Day they closed at 5 pm so we got there around 3 and stayed until they closed. I loved the early closing time because it meant we got out of the house before 5 pm and still had time to take Snoops to the park. After grabbing a bite to eat at The Alcove (I did not have cake even though I wanted to), we went home and picked up Snoops. Originally I had hoped to show Kelly Arroyo Seco in Pasadena but we didn't have enough daylight left. Instead we went to Elysian Park near Dodger's Stadium where I often go with Snoops and our friends Susan, Mindy, Macarthur, and Basil. We went the short route to the dog hill and sat on a tree trunk while Snoops dug for gophers. He likes to sniff. While we were admiring the view of downtown LA, Mindy and Susan and the gang showed up. It was great to get to visit with them for a few minutes. We all walked out of the park together and made our way home. The rest of the night we just took it easy at home. What a great couple of days! Visiting with friends and so much great time with Kelly and Snoops. Now I can't wait for our week in Big Sur...
Kelly surprised me by getting the night off this Saturday and we went to a dog friendly beach in Long Beach not far from the marina. My lovely friend, Kendra, suggested it because it is the only beach "nearby" that allows dogs to go leash free. It was a bit far but it was definitely worth the trip to see how happy Snoops was. He didn't know what to think of the water. As usual, we got off to a late start but we had just enough time to enjoy the sunset and then go on to dinner. What a treat to have Kelly on the weekend when neither of us had work for two whole days!
My little sister, Kimmy, visited recently. She came to LA to go to a writer's workshop and hang out with me, Kelly, Snoops, and Athena (Beth and Steve were out of town so we had Athena) for a few days. Because she has been here numerous times we've already done most of the touristy stuff we're interested in doing; therefore, we did a lot of eating and shopping. Because Kimmy is now vegetarian I had to get creative about where we ate. We found that Silverlake has quite a few excellent options. We made it to shop on Melrose and went to the new Americana in Glendale and we went to see Batman Begins (again, that's right, again and loved it more the second time). Kimmy had never been to Universal Studios so we spent an afternoon there - long lines but still a good time. According to Kimmy, the writer's workshop was definitely worthwhile and eye opening. She got her first taste of Hollywood networking in action - not her favorite thing. Here are some of the best photos from the visit (please note the plethera of cakes we sampled):
coconut lemon cake at The Alcove in Los Feliz (we agree this was the best cake we ate)
me with my matching vegan wrap at The Alcove
attracting attention downtown at 7th and Fig
happy Kimmy with beans and rice at Flore Vegan Restaurant in Silverlake
Beard Pappa's Cream Puffs at the Americana (say what?)
afternoon Pinkberry - strawberry, mochi, kiwi
going to Francesca Lia Block's house in Culver City
Snoops and Athena
at Cafe Tropical in Silverlake eating red velvet cake from Doughboys in Hollywood
See's candy bar cake at The Alcove
seeing Batman at the Arclight
at Universal Studios with Curious George
evening Pinkberry with mochi, raspberry, and cocoa pebbles
Anastasia had a lovely birthday picnic in the Ferndell picnic area of Griffith Park last weekend. Her and Jenn made an awesome spread of sandwich fixin's and snacks that ran along a series of four tables. They scored a great little semi-circle, enclosed area that was very shady and right next to the little fern lined walking trail. Beth and I went together and brought Snoops and Athena. They were very good and were able to be off leash the whole time. Beth took them for a run up the hill and we went walking along the little trail. Anastasia was an excellent host, as always, and one of the highlights was when Jenn "surprised" her with a big, chocolate, birthday cake. Being in the park reminded me there are cool places in LA that aren't overcrowded with people and traffic - and we didn't even have to pay for parking!
I finally got my exam scores back from six weeks ago...I got a 94 on both the written and the practical exam. That is good enough to go on to do the coursework to become an instructor trainer without having to take the exam again - yippee! That would mean, aside from regular pilates training, I could teach the certification courses as well. Now I just have to work a few years to save up money to go to Canada for the next level of coursework - Canada, argh! Anyway, I'm pleased. Here I am with the cast of High School Musical:
A place to share the sometimes mundane, sometimes exciting details of my daily life with friends and family who are often far away. Smiles and hugs to you all!
